| Introduction | The History | Architecture | Interesting Facts | Reference |
A city in the cloud, known as Machu Picchu is located at 2,430 meters or 7,970 feet altitude on a mountain ridge above the Urubamba Valley in Peru. This place is about 70 Km northwest of Cusco. This extraordinary settlement shows the symbol of the Inca Empire which is often referred to as " The Lost City of the Incas".
Nowadays, Machu Picchu is one of the most important archeological centers in South America and the most visited tourist attraction in Peru. Since this unique settlement is built on the mountain, it provided them with an excellent natural defense from their enemies.
Machu Picchu was brought back into world attention by archeologist Hiram Bingham. He was the first man who made the first scientific confirmation of the site in 1911.
Hiram Bingham
Machu Picchu was constructed in the mid 1400. It was then abandoned after less than hundred years later as the empire collapsed under the Spanish Conquest. Since then the Inca Capital was never found and destroyed by the Spanish.
Over the centuries, the jungle surrounding the site started to enshroud the place until only a few knew of its existence. Until in 1911 where an archeologist Hiram Bingham who was also a Historian found the site and brought to the world attention. According to Bingham, this site was chosen because of its unique location and interesting geological features. It is said that the mountain range behind Machu Picchu represents the face of the Inca looking upward towards the sky, with the largest peak, Huayna Picchu representing his pierced nose.
Huayna Picchu
Machu Picchu was built and constructed by using the classic Inca architectural style of polished dry-stone walls of regular shape. The stone are then cut into blocks and fitted together tightly. The interesting one was that many junctions in the central city are so perfectly fit that not even a knife fits between the stones!
Another thing was how they moved and placed the enormous blocks of stones. Since the Incas never used the wheel in any particular manner, how they moved remains a mystery, although some have said that they used hundreds of men to push the stones up the mountain. Can you imagine that?
In Machu Picchu, there are more than one hundred flights of stone steps carved from a single block of granite, a great number of water fountains interconnected by channels and water drainage designed for the original irrigation system. Evidence has been found that the irrigation system was used to carry water from a holy spring to each of the houses in turn.
some of the relics from the Machu Picchu
According to the archeologists, Machu Picchu was divided into three great districts.
The Sacred District
The Popular District, and
District of the Priests and the Nobility (royalty zone)
In the First Zone is the Sacred District. There are 3 primary archeological treasures located at this district. There are The Intihuatana, The Temple of the Sun and The Room of the Three Windows. According to people there, these were dedicated to Inti, their sun god and greatest deity.
Next is The Popular District. This is the place where the lower class people lived which includes storage buildings and houses. Finally is The Royalty Zone, District of the Priests and the Nobility. This is the place for the residence of the Amautas (Wise people), the Nustas (princesses) and The Monumental Mausoleum.
Each of this buildings had its own characteristics. For the Amautas, their houses were characterised by its reddish wall. For the Nustas, their place was characterised by its trapezoid-shaped rooms. While for The Monumental Mausoleum, it is a carved statue with a vaulted interior and carved drawings. This place was used for making sacrifice rituals.
Panoramic View Of Machu Picchu
Done By: Ahmad Farhan (Wonders crew)